Sunday, April 24, 2011

Hat Yai and Songkhla - Different, yet the Same - Part 4

At the end of last month, me and my friend went to Hat Yai for the first time for both of us. It was a 2D/1N trip and I'll begin the recount of our trip here, pieces by pieces, in no chronological order. After an exploration of Songkhla and a healthy dinner, we'll end the trip with the next day.

Of Breakfast and A Bid of Adios

Woke up fully energetic, it's time for another day to begin. After all, we were not here to sleep. At 7am (Thai time), we began our day with dim sum for breakfast. We were told that dim sum in Hat Yai is a unique experience and their dim sum are quite different from ours in Malaysia. So, off we went to Chok Di Tae Tiam, a famous restaurant in Hat Yai.

Delicious looking, ain't it?

It was already crowded by the time we reached, about 20 minutes walk from King's Hotel (we took tuk-tuk in the first place which is like 5 minutes ride top), but luckily, there's a seat for us. We ordered a pot of bak kut teh, one of my favourite dish, and some randomly chosen dim sum. Dim sum here is quite cheap, with each plate 12 Baht. We ordered about 9 plates and it was quite filling for a breakfast.

A collection of dim sum

Some of the highlights of the dim sum

Honestly, there's nothing to shout about for the dim sum as in there's nothing too unique about it. Yea, we were not familiar with some of the dim sum but overall, a rather OK breakfast. I still prefer the dim sum my home town is famous for. Can't wait to go back and have a taste again. The bak kut teh? Err, to be frank, I kinda forgot about the taste already. You can interpret this as you may like.

Bak kut teh

When we had enough, we walked around the town, exploring Hat Yai in the day. Hat Yai in morning and night is like two different place, bearing little similarities. In the morning, stalls selling local products and delicacies were aplenty especially near the Kim Yong marketplace, while at night, street foods were populating the road, spoiling tourists and locals with choices.

Another thing that you'll find aplenty here are massage centres and 7-11 convenience stores. Every street seems to have at least one or two massage centres and one 7-11. There's even at one road where the shop at the beginning and the end of the street were 7-11. Amazing. We went for an hour of massage and after buying some souvenirs at the Kim Yong market, we have to bid au revoir to this charming town of Hat Yai unwillingly. Of course, not before I had my last round of mango rice. 'Till I see you again, mango rice.

My sweet mango rice, drizzled with coconut milk

Sharing is caring. A word of advice and a piece of information.

If you're a shopaholic, then, you are in for a treat at Hat Yai. You can simply find anything here from shoes to cloths, pickles to light snacks, branded items to antique objects; you name it, you can find it at Hat Yai. And the best thing is, you get to haggle the price to a much lower rate. Haggling is part and parcel of the shopping activity and you don't have to worry if the sellers refused to lower the price. All you have to do is find another stall and you can get the same item, maybe at a cheaper rate. No wonder they called Hat Yai a shopping paradise. Of course, don't try to haggle at a shopping centre. It does not work like that for them. The exchange rate being advantageous for us is another plus point to shop. It's about 10 Baht per Ringgit.